Parker, L. (2020, July 24). Plastic trash flowing into the seas will nearly triple by 2040 without drastic action. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/plastic-trash-in-seas-will-nearly-triple-by-2040-if-nothing-done/
In the next 20 years, the amount of plastic that enters the oceans is expected to triple to 29 million metric tons per year. It is indeterminable to quantify exactly how much total plastic has already infiltrated the sea, but in 2015 it was estimated at 150 million metric tons, and with the educated guess for the next two decades, it will reach 600 million metric tons. Many plausible solutions have been offered, such as: industry and government promises, a recycling-only strategy, reduction and substitution focus, collection and disposal focus, and system-wide changes. However, these all cost huge amounts of money, that governments do not want to pay for, for example, the reduction and substitution strategy would reduce plastic leakage into the ocean by 28%, but would take up to $850 billion. A reduce of plastic is also blocked by the fact that 2 billion people lack access to waste collection systems.
This article discusses several strategies to stop the pollution of the ocean environments. While again it was disappointing to see the astonishingly high numbers and predictions to continue increasing, I appreciated reading through some good solutions that made me think about the ways in which I, as someone with access to waste collection systems and recycling and more, can do my part, as well as spread the word. I recognize that it is difficult to find a global solution, as developing countries are struggling economically where they are not in a place to easily prioritize the environment. It was also interesting to read about the different ways in which scientists come up with numbers and guestimates for so much of this, because much of pollution goes unrecorded by the polluters.
I think it will be more interesting to find solutions to this problem. I think similar to how viral infections were overlooked until it became the main issue (coronavirus), the efforts to reduce plastic will speed up as the problem gets worse and worse.
Thanks for your comment! While I agree, let’s hope it doesn’t get to the point as to where our survival increasingly depends on finding an immediate solution as the pace of plastic pollutions becomes faster(some might argue it already is at this point).
While plastic waste is definitely a government issue, that doesn’t mean us as individuals can’t control it. I appreciate that this article offers simple solutions that could be acted up now, by normal people. A government could create laws and be more responsible, however, that doesn’t mean anything unless individuals are willing to make a change as well.
Thanks for your comment, you’re definitely right. We are each small parts of the large system, which takes each and every one of us to fix it. A team is only as strong as its weakest link, a problem can not be entirely solved if each country’s people aren’t specifically working towards a solution.
I agree with the idea that as a team and a planet we need to work to reduce, I also am astounded that we increased the usage mid pandemic, noted, the increase usage of disposable products because of the need for sanitization and social distancing